20 



FORESTRY BRANCH BULLETIN No. 63 



Nineteen industries out of a total of twenty-four have reported the use of 

 maple material. Its value ranges from $11 to $45.92 per thousand feet board 

 measure. The average price paid, $18.87, is only 84 cents more than the price 

 reported by the saw-mill owners. This may be partly explained by the relatively 

 low price paid by the boot and shoe findings industries which used over 35 per 

 cent of the total maple wood consumed. These manufacturers purchased most 

 of their raw material in the form of round logs. 



Four different species of maple grow in the province of Quebec, but only 

 three of these are classified as being commercially important: sugar maple 

 (Acer saccharum), red maple (Acer rubrum), and silver maple (Acer saccharinum) . 

 The sugar maple is also known as "hard" maple and the red and silver maples 

 as "soft" maple. The red maple is not used in the industries to any large 

 extent. The wood of the red and silver maples is tougher than that of sugar 

 maple, but also much softer, lighter, and more perishable. The value of maple 

 wood depends largely on its hardness and stiffness. It is a difficult material 

 to season. It warps badly and checks easily. 



The "bird's-eye", "wavy", and "curly" effects found in the sugar maple 

 are only accidental forms of the grain of the wood. It is supposed that 

 bird's-eye maple is more likely to be found on dry and thin soil. Bird's-eye, 

 wavy, and curly maple are much valued for decorative work, in which they are 

 mostly used as veneer. 



Maple material occupies a very high rank in most of the industries into 

 which it enters, but leads in only one. 



In the wood-using industries of Ontario, maple leads the hardwood list: 

 in New Brunswick, it occupies the third rank, coming after birch and oak, but 

 leads in three industries. The total used in Ontario is over 88,000,000 feet 

 board measure and in New Brunswick 3,600,000 feet. 



TABLE X HEMLOCK 



*Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent. 



Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) was used by eight industries to the extent of 

 6,872,000 feet board measure, or 1 per cent of the total wood consumption 



